Hey guys I am new here. I have been swimming with a group that is chill, the coach is cool and supportive. I have no formal experience with swimming other than what I have done on my own for triathlons and swimming with this group has sparked an interest in competative swimming. I am moving to West Palm Beach in June and wanting to join a masters team. Any recommendations, advice, warnings?
Thanks
TN
Find a team or three and try them out:
www.floridalmsc.org/Clubs.htm. I live in Evanston, IL (pop ~ 80k). There are three masters teams in Evanston (each one has a different character) and many more if I wanted to venture into Chicago or points west. I'm sure you'll find a team that fill fit your needs. Heck, you'll probably get to swim outside year-round!
Skip
West Palm is in the Florida Gold Coast LMSC check out the following web site www.fgcmasters.org and contact Debbie Cavanaugh the LMSC chair for more specifics. Her email address and phone can be found on the web site.
Most masters’ teams will let you visit a practice for free. You will probably find them all very similar and welcoming. You will probably know from visiting a practice and chatting with the coach which team is right for you.
While the LMSC web for your area is probably the most up-to-date, you can also get a lot of information from the USMS web. To find your LMSC start with:
http://www.usms.org/lmsc/
I remember the same feelings when I joined. I was in the slowest lane and had trouble keeping up. I just monitored myself, would skip reps or use fins. I improved quite a bit that first year, and by the end of the second was nudging the fast lane(although our fast lane was not that fast). Just try it, understand that you won't be able to do everything at first, but that you will build and get better.
I had exactly the same concerns before I joined a masters team, back in 1998. I had been swimming on my own for years, but the thought of joining a team gave me the same feelings, I couldn't keep up, do the distance, etc. I had never swam with an organized swim team before I started masters swimming.
When I finally joined the team (my first masters team was the U of A team in Tucson), I was shocked at the different levels of swimmers represented. I wasn't in the slowest lane, but started very conservatively. Within 3-4 months, I had moved up 2-3 lanes.
What drives me today is the whole team environment. Not just the coach giving the workout (we have several coaches who vary from giving the workout and taking a chair to one who harps over you at each set to make intervals), but the other swimmers in my lane or nearby lanes. When I miss a day (it happens once in a while), someone will tell me how I missed quite a set. There are official team events, but also some get together for a quick visit to Starbucks after our morning workouts.
I think the title, "Masters Swimming," creates a misconception to swimmers out there who think they have to be at a collegiate or some sort of level to join. Even now I'll get questions/comments at work or elsewhere and people are amazed at the different levels of swimming represented on my team.
chlorini;89269
I've been trying to convince my mom that she can join my Masters team, and she has many of the same concerns.
Take her to watch one of those meets where there you know there will be 80 and 90 years-old participants (either gender); those who are still in the water when their heat-mates (you know what I mean) have had time to change back into their street clothes, but they (the octo- or nonagerians) are still in the water and finish their distance. And then, let her hear the thunder of applause :applaud: these people get (more than the 30-year old in the same heat got when he/she finished a full length ahead of everybody else.)
In Masters, as you all know, everyone is welcomed and encouraged (even the borderline obnoxious .......)
Nothing to be afraid of…
Getting your butt kicked in a workout, maybe
Biting off more than you can chew, talk to the coach and see what they can do to help you set and reach swimming goals in manageable bites.
Most of all enjoy swimming for life!
Thanks guys, I will check into things. I am just afraid of getting my butt kicked and biting pff more than I can chew.
I think this is my favorite part of a Masters swim practice (or workout, as gull prefers saying). I think it is the constant butt kicking and surviving even after I bit off more than I can chew that brings me back day after day.
The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be for you to jump in with a team. I have yet to see a USMS team turn anyone away. You will immediately be welcomed and your swimming will improve dramatically with the encouragement of teammates, who will also push you harder than you push yourself.
